David Armstrong killed at Fortescue Metals Group’s Solomon iron ore hub in Pilbara

Fortescue Metals Group has confirmed the death of 25-year-old worker David Armstrong at its Solomon Hub operations in the Pilbara. The company said the incident occurred when there was a ground collapse and it was working closely with all relevant authorities. The West Australian understands Mr Armstrong was a member of the company’s 300-strong drill and blast crew at Solomon and had fallen into a void to his death. Fortescue said mining operations at Solomon remained temporarily suspended “pending a full investigation into the incident”. Chief executive Elizabeth Gaines expressed the company’s deepest sympathy to Mr Armstrong’s family, friends and colleagues. “This is a very sad day for Fortescue and all our thoughts are with his family as we provide our full support to them at this very difficult time,” she said. “The wellbeing of the entire Fortescue family is our priority with a range of support services available across our sites, including the Fortescue Chaplains and Employee Assistance Program.” There has been an outpouring of grief among Mr Armstrong’s friends and family following the news of his death. “Words can’t describe the loss everyone is sharing right now, you were honestly the most amazing and kindest person,” Tameka Kenny said online. A heartbroken Bonnie Spence said she would “immensely” miss his “cheeky laugh”. “You are such a genuine down to earth wonderful and caring person,” she said. Cheyene Ninyette said Mr Armstrong was “one of a kind you” and “one of the happiest blokes” he ever met. “Our line of work is definitely dangerous and it never really crosses my mind about what the can really go wrong,” he said. “You didn't deserve this bruz (sic).” Workmate Matt Hibben also described Mr Armstrong as “one of a kind”. “Lots of good memories working and having laughs with you,” he said. “Thanks for the good times my brother.” The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety said it was aware of a significant incident at the minesite and mine safety inspectors from the department were travelling from Perth to attend the scene, and were expected to arrive this evening. WA Police confirmed it had responded to the death of a man at a mine site in the Pilbara. “The death is being treated as non-suspicious and a report will be prepared for the coroner,” a statement said. Fortescue’s Solomon hub is 60km north of Tom Price and produces about 75 million tonnes of iron ore a year. The suspension means thousands of workers across the massive operation have been temporarily ordered to stop work. Solomon was the first mining operation in the world to see the deployment of Caterpillar’s autonomous haulage technology on a commercial scale in 2012. Auto haulage technology has since expanded across the company’s Pilbara operations with 193 autonomous trucks now in operation. Today’s incident comes less than two weeks after a miner fell to his death at the Sino Iron site 100km south of Karratha on September 17.